This invention relates generally to training devices and methods for amusement devices involving golf swings. In particular, this invention relates to a training device and method to improve putt strokes by employing proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation. With the use of this device, the muscles of a golfer are trained to reproducibly generate a proper golf club head alignment and pendulum or piston swing, resulting in a more accurate and consistent putting stroke.
The key to making a golf ball follow an intended trajectory is to strike the ball such that the face of the golf club is perpendicular to that intended trajectory. For putting, this square stroke is achieved by drawing the putter straight back, following straight through to the ball along the intended trajectory. In this orientation, the force of the putter is transferred directly to the ball, without imparting angular momentum to the ball, thus preventing unwanted spin or causing the ball to verr to the right or left. This orientation, however, is often difficult to achieve because of opposing factors which tend to cause the putter face to strike the ball at an angle. These factors include excessive wrist action, the greater strength of one hand over the other, poor eye-hand coordination, or not accurately estimating the perpendicularity of the putter to the intended trajectory of the ball. Achieving a square stroke requires proper training and practice.
Prior art devices for training have relied on the practice of swinging a club in a guide or channel, with no resistance on the muscles and no effective way of keeping the putter face square to the intended trajectory of the ball. The theory behind these devices relies on the golfer being able to keep the club face perpendicular to the intended trajectory, without aid from the device. Thus the golfer is left to his own talents to perfect the key to a square stroke.
For example, Sindelar describes a golf putting training device in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,152,534; 5,150,904; 5,125,665; and 5,072,943 having a guide rail and a putter stabilizer. The putter stabilizer is essentially a bracket having straight edge and is attached to the head of the golf club. The guide rail is placed parallel to the intended trajectory of the ball and the putter is swung while holding the putter stabilizer against the guide rail. While helping to guide a stroke parallel to the intended trajectory of the ball, the invention does not assist the golfer in keeping the face of the putter square to the intended trajectory of the ball; the head of the club may rotate out of a perpendicular position. In addition, this invention has the disadvantage of requiring the putter stabilizer to be attached to the golf club. The additional piece of equipment adds weight to the club, shifts its center of mass, and does not accurately represent playing conditions. Therefore, muscle and sensory modalities for actual playing conditions are not accurately represented and training is ineffective.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,353,556, Self describes a golf swing training device in which elastic bands are attached to the golf club to put tension on the swing and thereby guide it along a proper trajectory. However, this device does not have a means for insuring that the face of the club is perpendicular to the intended trajectory of the ball.
These venerable training methods requiring the golfer to essentially teach himself, by necessarily knowing the feel of a perpendicular club face before he has actually been taught it. This leaves much room for method improvement. Fortunately, new training methods have evolved from research into rehabilitation of injury to athletes. Proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation, or PNF, is a medical term that is used to describe specific therapeutic exercises designed by clinicians to facilitate voluntary muscle contractions and controlled body movements in patients with impaired motor function from either neuromuscular disease or musculoskeletal injury. Skeletal muscle has an intrinsic monitoring system of sensory receptors in muscle, tendon, and joint capsules that form a sensory-motor feedback loop system with the central nervous system to control muscle function. Sensory input monitors the length, tension, and position of muscles and helps to control the speed, duration and intensity of motor effort through both positive and negative feedback loops.
PNF training techniques are based on this knowledge of how muscle contractions can be influenced by changing the amount of sensory stimulus to the sensory-motor feedback loop system. In its simplest form, voluntary muscle contractions or patterns of movements can be facilitated by applying stretching and/or resistance to specific muscle groups to enhance repetitive contractions of the target muscle. PNF exercises have been shown, for example, to restore muscular coordination, control and balance much quicker during rehabilitation of the injured athlete than just isolated range-of-motion and strengthening exercises. Protocols are individualized to facilitate desired movements in quality and quantity when a muscle is prestretched. Supportive muscles are required to contract in proper sequence when resistance is applied during re-education of a specific sports movement.
This invention utilizes PNF theory to train muscles of a golfer to reproducibly generate a proper golf club head alignment and pendulum or piston swing, resulting in a more accurate and consistent putting stroke. Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a device and method using PNF theory for training a golfer to strike a ball such that the face of the club hits the ball perpendicularly to the intended trajectory of the ball. It is another object of this invention to provide a device and method to help a golfer develop a more consistent and accurate putting stroke by enhancing muscle memory. It is another object of this invention to increase awareness of the putter head, resulting in improved tempo, distance, and directional control. It is another object of this invention to improve awareness of hand-position, shoulder rotation, and stabilizing of the lower body. It is a further object of this invention to provide a lightweight, portable training device that can be carried in a golf bag.
These objectives are achieved with the embodiments described below and in the accompanying drawings. Variations and modifications which are in the spirit of this invention and known to those skilled in the art are considered to fall within the scope of this patent.